Whenever skier traffic gets stuck at the Copper Mountain exit and backs up onto Interstate 70, Sgt. Greg Manning of the Colorado State Patrol knows there’s not much anyone can do about it except wait — and hope there isn’t an accident.
“If itap a powder day, people come up here to ski, because itap great,” said Manning, who is based in Frisco. “They all try to get into one place at the same time, and there’s only so much water you can fit through the hose. Anytime traffic is stopped on a through lane on an interstate highway, itap a hazard.”
The exit from the interstate onto Colorado 91, which is the state highway that leads from Copper over Fremont Pass to Leadville, can be problematic on busy days — not only for Copper’s patrons, but also for westbound I-70 motorists heading to Vail and points beyond.
“There are some infrastructure things that could be done to alleviate some of the backup,” Manning said. “But if we’re talking about people waiting to get off at the Copper exit, and you’ve got a mile of cars backed up, you’d have to build a third lane all the way to Silverthorne.”
Jason Smith, the Colorado Department of Transportation director for the northwest region, which includes Summit County, said the agency “remains concerned about the ongoing safety and congestion impacts on Interstate 70 and Highway 91 related to parking operations at Copper Mountain resort,” despite efforts made by resort officials over the past two years to mitigate the problem.
Two years ago, Copper added 861 parking spaces to the Far East parking lot, located on the other side of Colorado 91 opposite the resort, which expanded it from 1,386 to 2,247 spaces. Last year, resort officials adjusted the way traffic teams route skiers to the Far East lot and the Alpine Lot, located just west of CO 91. Previously they loaded the Alpine lot first, then Far East. Now they direct traffic to both lots simultaneously on busy days to improve traffic flow.
“That was just a matter of efficiency to get people into lots, on the buses (from the lots) and onto the mountain quicker,” said Copper spokeswoman Olivia Butrymovich.
Alpine and Far East are Copper’s two main free lots with more than 3,100 spaces between them.
“That lot on the east side is gigantic, and it used to be much smaller,” Manning said. “It looks to me like itap much more organized than it used to be. I think Copper Mountain is doing the best with what they’ve got. They’re a well-trained traffic management crew. I think they do a wonderful job. The fact that traffic backs up on the interstate is (due to) a lot of people loving to ski and snowboard.”
Smith said CDOT engineers “communicate regularly” with resort officials when real-time concerns arise, and it has been working “collaboratively” with Copper to improve traffic and parking operations.
“Backups happen on busy weekend/holiday timeframes,” said Copper’s director of mountain operations, Bill Blair, in a statement forwarded by the resort’s PR department. “They can also occur during weather events when road conditions deteriorate. We are always reevaluating traffic flow into the parking lots at the resort and trying new methods to alleviate congestion. CDOT is a valuable partner in this process, and we will continue to work with them to find innovative solutions to managing high volume timeframes.”
There are concerns about the future, too. Copper’s updated 10-year Master Development Plan, which was accepted by the White River National Forest in February, includes a 500-acre terrain expansion on the backside of the ski area onto Tucker Mountain and Jacque Peak. It would cater to advanced skiers and snowboarders, with a lift that would have the highest upper terminal in North America at just over 13,000 feet. That would give Copper bragging rights over Breckenridge, which has a lift topping out at 12,840 feet, and Loveland (12,700).
There is no timeline for that expansion. While the master development plan has been “accepted” as a whole by the forest service, any expansion would need to be approved separately by the forest service following an environmental impact statement and a public comment process.
“Thatap just our master development plan, that’s just our intention, nothing’s official with those plans,” Butrymovich said. “Itap a 10-year outlook on what we would love to do with our mountain, but would have to go through the proper channels with the forest service — and with our parent company (Powdr Corp.) for capital funding.”
But, if and when it becomes a reality, it presumably would drive increased traffic to Copper.
“Given the anticipated increase in skier traffic from the Copper Mountain Resort expansion, CDOT has serious safety concerns regarding parking and traffic flow,” Smith said. “CDOT will continue to work with the resort to assess these issues and recommend short-term and long-term improvements to reduce the likelihood of traffic backups on I-70.”
While Copper officials have little to say about the expansion’s potential impact on traffic, the master development plan does address the issue.
“To accommodate CMR’s upgrade capacity, Copper will need to expand its day use parking, incentivize public transit ridership, and encourage guests to carpool to increase CMR’s average vehicle occupancy (AVO),” it says. “CMR may need to pursue additional parking options to accommodate its upgrade capacity. Such options could include parking structures, or ‘decks,’ above CMR’s existing lots. These decks would most likely be located on private land and would only be pursued if other strategies fail to prove sufficient. Before seriously considering these decks, CMR will incentivize guests to carpool (to increase its AVO) and/or use public transit.”
In the meantime, Manning says the State Patrol sends troopers to observe traffic operations on busy days when they have the resources to do it. Motorists tend to behave better when they see trooper cruisers.
“Itap pretty cool, right?” Manning said. “We drive around with this little bubble of compliance that goes with our car. Nothing ever goes wrong when we’re near.”
